REMEMBERING AN ICON

Once the pride of Poland’s automotive industry, the Syrena 100 celebrates its 66th birthday in March…

First rolling off assembly lines on March 20th, 1957, the nimble car had made waves two years earlier at the Poznań Trade Fair. Inspiring rave reviews, such was its reception that its mass production was a logical step to take for a nation keen to rebuild and develop its shattered car industry. Originally manufactured in Warsaw’s FSO factory in Żerań, by the time production was halted in 1983, some 521,311 units had been built.

Designed by Karol Pionnier, this was to all intents and purposes the country’s first “homemade” car. Never exported, it was named after Warsaw’s official mascot, the Syrena (mermaid), and weighed in at just under a ton – several hundred kilos heavier than similar passenger cars being built in the West. Aimed at scientists, the intelligentsia and party elite, the two-door, one-lock car came with an eyewatering price tag that was set at over four times the average salary. Still, it gained a cult reputation, even featuring in the country’s first TV serial, Barbara i Jan. Later, new models were developed, and versions of the Syrena even took part in the Monte Carlo Rally with Marek Varisella and Marian Repeta finishing 99th in the 1960 event.